Montana’s fabulous big sky has rightfully earned its reputation as something spectacular. Stretching from horizon to horizon, even the most jaded long-time residents admire the expansive and seemingly endless overhead canopy, and visitors seeing it for the first time "oooh" and "ahhh." This past weekend, Montana’s always pleasing sky was filled with even more magic as we were treated to a display of northern lights.
If you haven’t seen them before, they are a “So this is Yale" moment that lives up to the hype.
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Last weekend’s aurora borealis were a stark and welcome contrast to the grey skies, wind, and 8” of snow we received in town a few days prior. As the work week came to an end, I started hearing talk of the northern lights. Mike and I had hosted a game night on Friday evening, and at around 10 p.m., the group headed to the park one block from our house to see if luck was on our side. It wasn’t an overly dark spot, but it was dark enough to see faint swaths of grey, which eventually morphed into long swooping streaks of silver. They were happening.
While I have seen the northern lights several times, it is an event that never loses its appeal. The weather was perfect and a wide-open weekend was ahead of me. I was stoked. Heading out on an adventure (albeit a tame one), staying up late with friends, and anticipating this wonder of the cosmos found me giddy with excitement.
We jumped into the car and headed outside of the Bozeman city limits. We all know town is growing at rapid pace, but the reality became more obvious and more alarming as we found it hard to escape the city lights. Fortunately, we found a spot not far from town. Our viewing post provided a wider expanse of the sky than we found in the park and here we could see the colors more vividly.Sparkly stars and a crescent moon hung low in the horizon and joined in the show. Luminous, other-worldly hues of light filled the sky and collided overhead. Jade green, florescent pink, a muted goldenrod, electric silver.
The shapes also pleased the eye. Pirouetting ribbons, swaying sheets, swirls reminiscent of a tie-dye t-shirt. At one point, a yellow curtain hung over the Bridger mountains. At another, a large silver cone, reminiscent of the one that shows up in movies as the spaceship lands or people are plucked away by an extraterrestrial force, appeared overhead. Apparently, this was the most intense geomagnetic storm since 2003 with the northern lights visible over much of the United States, including as far south as Alabama. Tatijana, one of the TEA fellows we hosted last fall, sent us photos of the phenomena over the Belarusian sky. I love the idea that so many people around the world could experience the same, awe-inspiring wonder of nature.
The aurora borealis never fail to evoke a sense of astonishment. As I tilted my head skyward, a million thoughts raced through my head. I found my thinking about “how time has lost all meaning.” I contemplated my “small place in the universe.” Nature's wonderment had me "excited to be alive." In some ways, I felt foolish. Why even try to put the experience into words?
Aurora borealis - magical, thought-provoking, profound, transcendent. I can't wait to see them again.
A few more photos from Friday and Saturday
"The most beautiful skies, as a matter of factPurple and redPurple and red and yellow and on fire andAnd red and yellow and on fire”The Orb, Little Fluffy Clouds
"Aurora borealis/The icy sky at night..." Neil Young
Other "So this is Yale" moments
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